Boat seat with flip-up bolster

ABSTRACT

A boat seat is provided with a generally horizontally disposed forward extension to support the occupant while seated and which can be pivotally swung upward to a generally vertical position to provide room forward of the seat for the occupant to stand and provide a back rest for the person to lean against while standing.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed toward boat seats and, more specifically, a boat seat which has a forward extension on the seat portion which can be swung up to provide room at the front of the seat and a back rest when the seat occupant stands up at the front of the seat. Generally a boat pilot or operator occupies the seat and in the normal seated condition is able to maneuver the steering mechanism but may have an occasion to stand while piloting the boat so that the front end extension or bolster can be swung up to provide room to stand and serve as a back rest for the pilot while maneuvering the boat.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

A prior art boat seat is identified as a 930 premium bolster flip-up seat identified as catalog item No. 48930 manufactured by Garelick Manufacturing Company. In this boat seat the flip-up extension or bolster is held by a pair of exposed rigid arms which are located outside the sides of the seat section of the boat seat and because they are exposed are unsightly and can constitute a hazard, such as causing finger pinching. Also, the mechanism for coupling the extension to the boat seat and for swinging it upward as desired has been somewhat costly to manufacture and install and, in some occasions, has not operated reliably and has not provided the desired stability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The extension or bolster of the present invention is mounted on a rigid, preferably metal, cross member preferably in the form of a pair of parallel spaced-apart metal rods which are rigidly attached to a pair of transversely spaced rigid, preferably metal, arms which are located inwardly from the sides of the boat seat. The arms are pivotally attached to a pivot rod which extends transversely across the boat seat within the boat seat support frame. The seat frame has openings, preferably in the form of slots, to accommodate the arms to allow them to be downward so that the extension is in the horizontal position and allow them to swing upward when desired. Padding which normally would at least partley cover the boat seat also has similar slot-like openings to accommodate the swinging of the pivot arms. The arms being located inward from the side edges are therefore not exposed so are not unsightly and no longer present any finger-pinching danger. Also, the mechanism comprising the arms and the cross rod can be made and assembled independent of the boat seat support and then inserted into the boat seat support and the extension so that the cost of manufacture is significantly reduced and the ease of assembly is significantly improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the invention showing the boat seat and extension padded;

FIG. 2 is a perspective partial break-away view of an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a top view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Typically, the boat seat of the instant invention may be and is often referred to from time to time as the pilot seat. A significant function is to provide the boat pilot or operator a comfortable seat for normal operation of the steering mechanism for maneuvering the boat yet at the same time provide the means or the mechanism for giving the boat operator room to stand in front of the boat seat and operate the steering mechanism (and probably other controls) as necessary and provide support for the operator to lean back against the forward edge of the seat. Typically a pilot boat seat 10 has a rigid, usually molded, seat support frame 10A comprising a horizontal seat support section 11, an upright rear or aft back support 12, left and right or port and starboard sides 13 and arm supports or arm rests 14. Generally speaking and preferably, these portions of the pilot seat are made from structurally rigid materials which are preferably somewhat lightweight to constitute a one-piece molded seat frame 10A. Extending forward from the front edge of seat section 11 is an extension generally designated by reference numeral 16 which, when in the horizontal position such as illustrated in FIG. 1, extends the seat portion of the boat seat for the benefit of the seat occupant. Generally speaking, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a suitable padding covers the seat frame and the extension, for the comfort of the seat occupant.

Seat extension 16 is coupled to the main seat support frame 10A by a pair of parallel generally flat or planar arms 18 which are transversely spaced apart and located transversely inward from the sides 13. At about one end arms 18 are attached to a transversely mounted pivot rod 19 which is made out of a rigid material preferably a suitable metal. Pivot rod 19 is located within rigid support frame 10A and extends across the width of seat section 11 of support frame 10A. Pivot rod 19 is held loosely in position within support frame 10A by resting on a mounting plate (not shown) located on the underside of support frame 10A. By being mounted loosely within support frame 10A pivot rod 19 is free to rotate as needed and is easily positioned when the seat is being assembled. At about the opposite end of arms 18 a pair of spaced transverse rods 20 are attached between arms 18. Extension 16 is preferably molded from the same material as seat frame 10A and is dimensioned to cover or enclose the end of arms 18 with the associated cross rods 20 so none of the supporting hardware for the extension is exposed.

To accommodate arms 18 and allow them to swing between the horizontal and the upright positions, slots 21 are formed in seat frame 10A. The extension 16 suitably supported by arms 18 and cross rods 20 can be placed in a horizontal location to provide support for the seated occupant and can be swung upward, as observed in FIG. 2, to provide room forward of the boat seat for the operator to stand, if desired, and provide some back support for the operator to lean against while standing. 

1. A boat seat with flip-up bolster, comprising: a rigid seat support section having a front and sides for supporting a seat occupant; a separate rigid seat extension at the front of said seat support section; a pivot rod mounted transversely within said seat support section; and arm means located between the sides of said seat support section attached at about one end to said pivot rod, said arm means extending from said pivot rod into fixed engagement with said seat extension for selectively manually swinging said extension between a position upright from said seat support section and a position generally parallel to said seat support section.
 2. A boat seat with flip-up bolster as described in claim 1 further including openings in said seat section for permitting said arm means to move between said positions.
 3. A boat seat with flip-up bolster as described in claim 2 wherein said arm means is supported by said rigid seat support section when said extension is in a position generally parallel to said seat support section.
 4. A boat seat with flip-up bolster as described in claim 1 wherein said arm means comprises a pair of elongated parallel transversely-spaced rigid members.
 5. A boat seat with flip-up bolster as described in claim 3 wherein said seat extension has a transverse rod fixedly attached to said seat extension with said arm means fixedly attached at about one end to said seat extension rod.
 6. A boat seat with flip-up bolster as described in claim 3 further including a pair of parallel spaced-apart rigid transverse rods fixedly attached to said extension, said arm means fixedly attached to said rods.
 7. A boat seat with flip-up bolster, comprising: a rigid seat support section having a front and sides for supporting a seat occupant; a separate rigid seat extension at the front of said seat support section; a pivot rod mounted transversely within said seat support section; arm means located between the sides of said seat support section attached at about one end to said pivot rod; and transverse rod means fixedly attached to said seat extension, said arm means fixedly attached to said transverse rod means remote from said pivot rod.
 8. A boat seat with flip-up bolster as described in claim 7 wherein said transverse rod means comprises a plurality of rigid, parallel, spaced-apart rods. 